Office of the Attorney General, State of Texas

CVS Update

Volume I • Number IV

Welcome

Dear Advocates:

The theme for this year's Crime Victim Rights Week is "Victim Rights: Every Victim. Every Time." It serves as a reminder to us all to advance the rights of victims and expand the services they need to rebuild their lives. It envisions a world in which all victims receive the support they need to recover from the aftermath of violence.

This initiative is especially important for our most vulnerable victims: children. For this issue of our Enewsletter, we asked children's advocates to give us their thoughts. What is it that drew them to helping victims and what is it that enables them to continue their important work? These insights can help all of us who are dedicated to serving victims.

The Seagoville Police Department contacted our office on behalf of a 13-year-old girl who had been assaulted while on a trip to Florida. Getting help for this young girl required the police department, the sexual assault advocate from Victims Outreach in Dallas, the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center at Parkland Hospital, and our compensation program to work closely together. Thanks to their commitment, this precious child received the help she needed.

This is but one incident among thousands that each of you experience every day. Your commitment, compassion, and willingness to work together gives true meaning to our vision of rebuilding lives and providing every victim with his or her rights every time.

Sincerely,

Greg Abbott
Attorney General of Texas

Children's Advocacy Centers:
Making a Difference in the Lives of Child Abuse Victims

Just the other day someone asked me, as they often do, how and why I
continue to work in the child abuse field. "It must be so depressing
to hear all those awful stories about what happens to kids," they said.
This time I immediately thought of a photograph I'd received in the mail
a week or so earlier. The photo was that of a young mother with three beautiful
young children - two girls, ages 6 and 4, and a newborn baby boy. The mom
was beaming. The dad was apparently the one taking the photo. Everyone was
laughing. The background was a small but homey living room.

I have never met the children in the photo in person, but I knew the young
mother, and the tiny faces reminded me of when I first met her. It was more
than a decade ago, and she had just turned 12. Back then she was defiant, angry,
and despite her valiant attempts to hide it, scared to death. The allegations
- something she'd reportedly shared with a 7th grade classmate - were that
her step-father was molesting her, and has been doing so since she was 8. She
was the 10th child who had come to our local children's advocacy center (CAC)
back in 1992. Since then there have been thousands more.

Not wanting to disclose her real name, I'll call her Sharon. She is a special
and unique young woman, but her story is not unique at all.

She was learning-disabled and the daughter of a frightened, overly medicated,
submissive and dependent mother. Her stepfather was a monster. He used her
to fulfill his own sexual fantasies and then permitted his teenage sons to
do the same. When she tried to talk to her mother about what was happening,
her mother would threaten to kill herself. Sharon would then back off her allegations,
saying she had made it all up. And so, for years, she endured horrific things,
believing she was simply not worthy of better treatment, that somehow this
was what she should expect in life.

But, as she tells me today, once she came to the CAC, things began to look
different in her eyes. She suddenly knew she was not the only kid who had endured
this nightmare. She wasn’t sure she was ready to tell the police what
had happened or to have her step-father and her step-brothers put in jail.
But she was ready to stand up and say this would NEVER happen to her again.

Today when Sharon calls to tell me, one of the professionals who held her
hand and talked to her at the children's advocacy center back in 1992, what
costumes her children are wearing for Halloween this year or which one has
lost a tooth, she's also quick to remind me that - but for the people at the
CAC who helped her - she would never be the mother she is today. She often
says that was the worst time of her life but also the best, because it was
the first time in her young life that anyone cared what she said or what she
felt or what she needed. Suddenly, she recalls, she felt worthy and important
and valued. Suddenly she felt her life did, indeed, hold the promise of a happy
future.

Sharon had made allegations and recanted them repeatedly over the two year
period the investigation of her case went on. There never was a criminal or
civil prosecution of her stepfather or stepbrothers. In some ways the system
failed her - as it has so many child victims of abuse. However, the children’s
advocacy center had somehow empowered her to believe in and protect herself.

She grew up to be a healthy, protective and powerful mother who would ensure
there would be no cycle of abuse for her children. She had felt the support
of people who believed in her and who would support her if and when she could
tell what had happened and even when she could not.

The note - scribbled in the Sharon's still-child-like handwriting and accompanying
the photo of her beautiful family - said, "If you weren't there for me
back then I could never be here for my kids now. Thank you. I love you."

Why do I, like countless other professionals involved in the children's advocacy
center movement in Texas, continue to work in the child abuse field? Because
of kids like Sharon who remind us each and every day that we are making a difference
and, even when we think we may have failed them, they assure us we have not.
We never know what difference we might make for them - perhaps a difference
that is not measurable by whether or not the perpetrator in their case was
arrested or prosecuted, but rather by whether we listened to them, whether
we believed in them.

There are currently 61 children's advocacy centers in Texas, more than in
any other state in the nation. Cathy Crabtree, the former founding director
of a local CAC in north central Texas, is the executive director of Children's
Advocacy Centers of Texas, Inc., the statewide membership association for CACs
in our state. For more information about Children's Advocacy Centers in Texas
go to www.cactx.org.

My CASA Experience

Donna Vargas
Volunteer
CASA of Southeast Texas, Beaumont

I remember looking forward to the swearing-in ceremony as a Court Appointed
Special Advocate. I had made it through the training and the mountains of information
we were given. I can remember the instructors telling our large class that
cases were waiting for us upon our successful completion of the course.

After the ceremony, the CASA case coordinator was waiting for us to come out
of the courtroom so she could give us information on our first case. Despite
its scope, the course I had just completed did not prepare me for the child
whose life I would help shape forever.

I was paired-up with another classmate. We were assigned to a case involving
a young mother, who had recently turned 13, and her 4-month-old baby boy. He
was big, weighing 20 pounds at 4 months.

He had a full head of hair, and he was absolutely beautiful. Our first visit
brought both joy and anguish because of the situation. This young mother talked
freely about her past. She told us that her father was her first perpetrator.
She told us that she had sex with 6 to 8 men a night. Her mom would get the
men to pay, and then she would spend the money on their drug and alcohol habit.
Her mom was on dialysis, but used drugs and alcohol daily. Her father was in
and out of jail because of theft and buying and selling drugs. The baby was
staying in a foster home because "our little mother" had put a pillow over the face of her baby to stop him from crying. She said that she tried to kill herself a couple of times because she could not handle the baby, and she wanted to party. We met at least once a week with this child, and not a visit went by that she did not ask about her son.

CPS was seeking termination of all parental rights not only for our young
mother from her parents, but also of our young mother's parental rights from
her child. Convincing a young mother to give up her child was the toughest
thing I have ever had to do in my life. We found a paternal aunt and uncle
who tried to take care of the baby, but the child, born drug addicted, had
many violent outbursts and was too difficult for them to handle. The day finally
came when we went to court, and our young mother gave up her rights.

I wish I could say the next 2 ´ years saw great strides, but this child continued
to run away from foster care for weeks at a time, do drugs, and have sex. She
spent many months in and out of psychiatric hospitals. She looked so much older
than her 15 years. Finally, a caring CPS worker found a foster mom in another
county who would be a positive influence in this child's life.

This case had so many ups and downs, frustrations, laughter, and so many tears.
I know there were times when she did not like me, but I know that she trusted
me and knew that I cared about her and her baby. If or when she needed me,
she would find a way to contact me.

I lost touch with this child for almost a year. Then I received a call from
CASA that someone visiting in Beaumont was asking to see me. It was this
young mother,
and the change in appearance and attitude was unbelievable. She was a young
woman now, attending school and making As and Bs. She was focused on her
future. She
asked if I had seen her son, and I told her that he had been adopted and
was doing great. She then told me how her foster mom had helped her and that
she
was considering a career as a lawyer or social worker so she could help
children like herself.

I never keep my feelings a secret from the children I work with. As CASA
volunteers, we have a tough job to do. We have to look out for the best
interest of the child.
Sometimes we do not agree with CPS, the lawyers or the judge, but we
have to stand behind our convictions and what we know will keep the children
we
work
with safe.

I truly believe that I have made a difference in the life of a child,
and that is what being a CASA is all about.

Assisting Child Victims

All of us who work in the field of victim services are witness to the loss
and trauma that young and old alike suffer when they or one of their family
members
is victimized. Historically, children have been the forgotten victims, forgotten
by the system, forgotten by the general public. Their response to the victimization
is ignored. Their experience, however, is real, and how we assist a child during
this fragile time could have an impact on the rest of their lives.

Children’s understanding of trauma and/or death and their experience of grief differ widely, depending on their age, developmental state, personality, family and cultural background. Often their grieving may be unacknowledged because it looks different from that of the adults around them. They often express themselves through their behaviors, their play, and sometimes very quietly and privately. The adults in their lives often need help in understanding the unique ways that children grieve. They may be confused about the best way to respond to the reactions of children. This confusion can come from the adult’s discomfort with trauma and death, which is shaped by the denial prevalent in our larger culture.

When appropriate, it is important to educate the adults in a child’s life about how to help them cope. As Victim Services Providers it is important that we help to facilitate this, rather than solely taking on the task of helping children cope. Therefore in order to be able to support children through grief and trauma, we can help the adults examine their own history of loss, as well as their current reactions to the victimization. Many of them have losses that have not yet been mourned or that are easily triggered by new losses. Understanding and awareness of this will enhance their ability to help children cope.

It is important to recognize that each child and family is unique and each
will react in an individual way. However that there are some general guidelines
that can be considered when working with children. Children naturally self
sooth and desensitize themselves to pain by not staying in a negative emotion
for too long. This means it would not be unusual for a child to cry one moment
and be ready to go out to play the next. Children’s reactions depend upon their state of cognitive and emotional development. They have a tendency to re-experience the loss or trauma over time as they move through the different developmental stages, allowing them to understand the event differently.

Children younger than seven tend to think in an imaginative, magical way.
They need gentle explanations about what has happened. Children this age may
have more of a tendency to act out their feelings and reactions in play, and
may require more structure and reassurance. They may have a more painful reaction
when they are old enough to understand the event more concretely.

Children between the ages of seven and eleven tend to be interested in more
detail. They may exhibit more acting out behaviors such as aggression, somatic
complaints,
and school phobia. They need honest and clear answers in a language they can
understand, as well as validation of feelings and reassurance that they are
not to blame.

Parents often fear giving fully honest answers out of a concern that they
will scare their children. While this concern is understandable, experience
shows
that when children don’t
know the truth they sometimes make up a far scarier explanation or blame
themselves. Once children become adolescents they have a new depth of awareness
that makes
life more meaningful to them, which can bring with it a new level of pain
and anxiety in response to trauma or loss.

Teens become more curious about the philosophical and spiritual questions
surrounding trauma and loss. They may experience some acting out behaviors,
as well as more
risk-taking behaviors such as alcohol or drug abuse. They need appropriate
parental openness in sharing feelings and help in learning to manage their
feelings. They
typically respond well to support groups with peers.

As victim services providers we cannot take away what happened to
a child victim, as much as we might like to be able to. We can however listen,
believe,
tell
them that it was not their fault, and let them know how sorry we
are. We can also support the adult caregivers in their lives so they can
assist the children
as they move through the trauma and loss of their victimization.

Jessica's Story

B. J. Hassell
Manager Victim Services
MADD Texas State Office

I had been working for MADD as a victim advocate for almost ten years when
I received a call from Mark, the father of an infant girl injured in an alcohol-related
crash. Ten years is a long time, and in those ten years I had seen the worst
of the worst—there is nothing more horrible than watching a parent bury his/her child. But in January of 2003, I was confronted with something totally new to me…my first experience with a child endangerment case involving a parent as the offender.

I knew Mark would be calling, and I was confident, prepared, and ready to
help him through his personal tragedy. Little did I know there was nothing
that could have prepared me for the life-changing experience of working with
Mark and his precious baby girl, Jessica.

On November 19, 2002, Mark dropped Jessica off for a short visitation with
her birthmother. At the time, Mark owned his own courier service, and he needed
someone to watch Jessica while he worked for a few hours. At 1 p.m., he received
a phone call from Jessica’s grandmother informing him that there had been a terrible crash. When he arrived at the hospital, doctors informed Mark that he had about an hour to say goodbye to his only child. Two-months later, he was calling me, and two months after that he was sitting in front of me at my office. Miraculously, Jessica survived, though she was critically injured with severe head injuries and still in the hospital.

The pictures of Jessica’s face still haunt me, or perhaps the pictures of Jessica before the crash that haunt me the most. She was the image of perfection—an innocent child with sparkling eyes. As Mark handed me the post-crash pictures, I remember thinking, “She doesn’t even look like the same child anymore.” The bones around her eyes had been shoved into her brain. She was black, blue, and purple, and her face and head were swollen in an unnatural way from extensive re-construction surgery. As I looked at Mark, I knew our journey together would be a long one, but I embraced it knowing that Mark needed me in his corner.

After the crash, Mark was unable to work, spending seventy days at Jessica’s side in ICU, first at Brackenridge Children’s Hospital and then sixty-five days at Our Children’s at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. He could no longer afford his rent payments, lost his vehicle, and was completely financially devastated. We immediately began working on the Crime Victims’ Compensation
Application in an effort to help Mark and Jessica. In a few weeks, Jessica would
be released from the hospital and begin rehabilitation. Now daughter and father
would have to start picking up the pieces.

Advice for Advocates: When the Victim is a Child

Working with victims of crime is inevitably a difficult task. Bearing witness
to another person’s pain and loss and supporting them through the aftermath
of a crime requires a special gift. The impact on you, the victim advocate, when
the victim is a child may often bring added difficulties and challenges. What
makes these cases different?

Children are innocent

Children are vulnerable and may be helpless to defend themselves

Children may be easily manipulated

Children may not understand what has occurred or may not be able to communicate
about their victimization

You may be reminded of your own child of a similar age, gender or circumstance
as a victim with whom you are working

You may have a trauma history from your own childhood that gets triggered
when
seeing or working with a child victim

You may think the situation was preventable or believe you could have
done something
personally to prevent or minimize the impact of a situation

In a nutshell, children are innocent victims and you, the advocate, have
deep empathy.What can you do to ensure that these young victims are treated
kindly,
gently, with respect and prevent further victimization?

Know your limits – not everyone can work child cases. If it is too
hard, too personal, refer the case or get someone to assist you;
if you work the case,
take time to debrief with a trusted colleague or therapist during
and after.

Talk with, not to, a child. Use creative ways to ‘talk’ – drawings,
play with toy figures of people or animals or puppets, conversation while ‘hanging
out’.

Participate in a ‘child-centered’ model to minimize the number
of times and persons who interview the child.
Children are resilient and many fare much better than their adult counterparts
may in similar situations. As adults and advocates, we are able to
assist children in developing and strengthening resiliency. The 3 P’s
of Resiliency (Rynearson,1984) are:

Pacificiation – learning to calm and self-soothe to reduce terror
and fear responses

Partition – learning to create a boundary between what is “me” and “not
me” – the ability to distance oneself from the traumatic
event

Perspective – realizing that as time passes “I will be more
and more ok”

Our job is to be emotionally healthy enough for children at their time of need and then, being mindful of a child’s resilience following trauma, to step back and let them continue their
journey.

This article is submitted by Dr. Jennie Barr, Mental Health and Program
Specialist for the Crime Victim Services Division.

Children and
Crime Victims' Compensation

The most seasoned advocates are still stunned when confronted with the victimization of a child. The staff of the Crime Victims' Compensation (CVC) Program also experiences difficulty when dealing with the lost innocence of a child. Last year we received more than 5,000 applications on behalf of children who had been sexually or physically assaulted. This figure represents the second highest percentage of CVC applications received.

The CVC staff works as team in reviewing eligibility and making benefit decisions on all applications. This is especially true with claims involving child victims. Our eligibility reviewers, awards casemanagers, nurses, and accounting staff all receive specialized training to help them with the disturbing situations contained in offense and medical reports. We also work closely with the hundreds of CVS grantees who work with these children and who help their families complete applications.

To help advocates identify available benefits for child victims and their families, we have prepared a fact sheet for easy reference.

Important CVS
Grants & Contracts News

The FY2008-2009 OAG-Crime Victim Services Division grant application kits and information have been posted. To help you with the application process please review the update and new requirements posted on our Website. We will be providing updates on our Web site, so make sure to check the Web page regularly.

2007 Crime Victim Services Conference

SAVE THE DATE

Our 2007 Conference will be held November 13-15 in San Antonio, Texas at the
Omni Colonnade Hotel. A special all day session for OAG grantees only will
be held on Monday, September 12. Come join other advocates for a multidisciplinary
look at providing victim assistance in Texas and the nation.

OVC Online Resources

The US Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) has several
online services available. You can also visit them via the link at the top of our Enewsletter masthead.

Online Directory of Crime Victim Services

The Online Directory of Crime Victim Services is a Web-enabled, user-friendly
database designed to provide victims and service providers with a means to
locate or promote crime victim assistance programs in the United States and
other countries. The Directory currently hosts more than 6,000 service providers
who address a wide range of victim service needs. It is easily accessible
to individuals in need of local services, and programs can be identified by
location,
type of victimization, service needed, or agency type.

The database relies on user submissions and content from other crime victim
services databases and directories and is open to all crime victim service
providers
who want to list their victim-focused programs and services in the directory.
Users may enter information by using the Web-based interface or by contacting
the database administrator. The information is reviewed for content and language
appropriateness. VOCA subgrantees are automatically added to the database

OVC HELP for Victim Service Providers Web Forum

The OVC HELP for Victim Service Providers message board (Web Forum) is a tool
for crime victim service providers and allied professionals to share ideas,
suggestions, and recommendations concerning promising practices, best practices,
and victim issues. The "go-to" place for providers and allied professionals to connect, the site features tools that include the message board, expert-led guest host sessions and archives, OVC News and Announcements section, search engine, hot topics identification, and Post of the Month section.

National Calendar of Events

The OVC National Calendar of Events is designed to help crime victim service
providers “Put Victims First.” By
connecting service providers with a national database of crime victim-related
conferences, trainings, ceremonies, and other events, OVC will help keep providers
in touch with the latest resources to help them better serve victims of crime.
The Calendar will allow users to view a national collection of events, locate
and receive notifications of local events, or submit their own events to the
Calendar.

Project Safe Childhood

Project Safe Childhood aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. This new U.S. Department of Justice Web site provides information to community partners that help protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Learn more about the program and access press releases, speeches, publications, and other resources.

Keep in Touch
To subscribe to future issues of our enewsletter and to provide the Crime Victim Services Division with your current contact information, please access our Online Registration Service. We look forward to hearing from you and to working together to give victims the services they deserve.